Parents Running for School Boards in CA
Julie Hamill, Palos Verdes
1. Why did you decide to run for the school board? Was there a specific catalyst or school district failure that pushed you to run?
I decided to run because my district's policies were harming my children, and when I tried to speak to the Board and Superintendent about it, I was completely ignored. My middle son is speech delayed, and having to wear a mask meant no one could understand him and he spent lunch and recess alone. My oldest was in TK when covid started, and the district provided only online and then hybrid learning for him - so I had to put him into an expensive private school in order to give him an adequate education and social experience. Prior to starting the in-person program, he had become depressed and withdrawn.
2. Assuming you were disappointed by the handling of pandemic measures in schools, what are the other major issues you're seeing right now in your local district and want to address?
One of the major problems ailing our district is a lack of transparency. Many critical policy decisions are made behind closed doors in committee meetings that are not open to the public. I will end that practice if I am elected. Every policy decision should be debated publicly and made in front of the public.
We also have a pattern of kicking major budget problems down the road instead of addressing them head on. We need a long term financial plan to ensure our district does not burn through its reserves.
Many parents were excluded from participating in their children's school activities. Parents have legal rights to participate in their children's education, including being present and volunteering in the classroom. Policies of exclusion need to be eliminated.
Many issues are coming down from the state, like the dumbing down of curriculum (see the proposed k-12 math framework). We need board members who understand how the state legislature operates so they can effectively push back and work to change state policy.
3. How would you prioritize K-12 funding and where do you think the biggest gaps/oversights in spending occur?
We spend an incredible amount of money per pupil in public education, but only a very small fraction of that money goes to teachers. There is too much administrative bloat. Money needs to stay in the classroom educating children.
4. How can your district do a better job of engaging parents and families?
For starters, board members must stop maligning and attacking parents with whom they disagree. The policy of excluding parents with dissenting opinions from committees needs to end. Parents must feel free to voice their concerns and opinions without being attacked and retaliated against. We should have town hall format meetings with more opportunities for parents to speak and engage with one another. We should also add a standing slot for a parent representative to speak at every board meeting, just like the teacher and staff unions are given.
Suverna Mistry, Newhall
1. Why did you decide to run for the school board? Was there a specific catalyst or school district failure that pushed you to run?
For the last 2+ years, I have been strongly advocating for the reopening of schools and restoring normalcy to our children. The pandemic was very eye-opening to many parents with regards to how little of a voice they had when it came to their children’s education and how politics and special interests infiltrated our local schools and negatively impacted our children. Having parents on the board ensures the focus remains on the students.
2. Assuming you were disappointed by the handling of pandemic measures in schools, what are the other major issues you’re seeing right now in your local district and want to address?
Right now every district is faced with the challenges of overcoming learning loss and social/development setbacks as well as declining enrollment. We have title I schools mixed with high-performing schools in our 10 school elementary district. I want to ensure every child gets the opportunity to reach their full potential and that academic standards remain high vs. lowering standards to lift failing schools. We need to rebuild our trust in public education and ensure students are top priority, parents have a voice when it comes to decisions affecting their kids, and we go back to focusing on education.
3. How would you prioritize K-12 funding and where do you think the biggest gaps/oversights in spending occur?Right now all focus should be on education—the basics and mental health. We cannot afford to focus dollars chasing an endemic virus or other social justice programs which shouldn’t be taught in the classroom to begin with. Let’s get back to the basics and get kids back on track!
4. How can your district do a better job of engaging parents and families?
Our district already does a great job of focusing on students and having parents’ voices at the table. We have 3 parents on the board now. The current outgoing board member, who isn’t seeking re-reelection is not a parent but endorses my candidacy. I would ensure the students’ first approach continues and we continue to involve & engage parents as much as possible.
Nick Resnick, Oakland
1. Why did you decide to run for the school board? Was there a specific catalyst or school district failure that pushed you to run?
I’m running because the Oakland school district is in chaos, and Oakland’s kids desperately need change. I’m a former Oakland teacher, a district parent, and the leader of a successful organization focused on learning. I’m a skilled manager who understands schools and budgets. I’m running to put the focus where it belongs: learning and financial sustainability.
My entire professional career has been a catalyst for my decision to run. My first job was at Community Day School (in Oakland Unified), Oakland’s school for students who have been expelled. This is the place where students went as their last resort in OUSD, to be “rehabilitated back” into the comprehensive school system. My students had to walk through metal detectors everyday. They did not have access to grade-level curriculum or programs that would support their interests. These children were dying for rigorous curriculum and programs that their white and affluent peers had access to, but in our city, the zip code you live in dictates your access to choice and opportunity, and my students, back in 2008, were robbed of that chance.
At Edna Brewer Middle School, where I taught 7th and 8th grade math for many years, I saw the promise of what can be possible when programs, grant funding, experienced leadership, curriculum and hard working teachers worked tirelessly for student equity and academic achievement. Positive culture and inclusivity matter. Representation matters. Engaging parents and guardians is crucial to student success.
I know better is possible in our local schools because I was part of creating one. I know better is possible for our district, because I worked with many Title I districts achieving unprecedented results for populations just like ours. These experiences are what leads me to believe we can create a future where the past isn’t replicated and our students are promised a future of choice, opportunity, and upward mobility.
2. Assuming you were disappointed by the handling of pandemic measures in schools, what are the other major issues you're seeing right now in your local district and want to address?
In one of California’s lowest performing districts with significant racial disparity between student groups, I continue to be shocked at how little the board focused on these core challenges. Oakland Unified has 13% of the lowest performing schools in the state and reading rates for Black students are less than 1/3 of those for White students. These statistics should keep our school board up at night.
As a board member, my top priority will be focusing on student achievement and especially on these racial gaps. To start, we need a board committee focused on academics that monitors the data, strategy and progress and brings this focus to the board. No school organization I have worked with has achieved its goals without monitoring its progress toward goals. 50% of board meetings should relate directly to academic goals, monitoring student learning, and holding our district accountable to access to quality programs.
3. How would you prioritize K-12 funding and where do you think the biggest gaps/oversights in spending occur?
Here in Oakland, we’re famous for initiative overload, investing in too many areas and implementing them a mile wide and an inch deep. Our system cannot implement everything at the same time. There’s a mantra in the design thinking world— designing for everyone means you’re designing for no one.
I would like to bring our budgetary decisions in line with student learning. Not all dollars spent have the same return on investment for our children. We need to look at the academic return on each and every investment decision. We have to be clear what we’re prioritizing and let the community know it means we’re not doing other things (and that’s okay), because if we try to do everything, we’ll succeed at nothing. While not all investments will reach every child, it’s helpful to understand the emphasis of those dollars and the per pupil impact on who and where and why.
An African American woman I met while canvassing recently said to me: “we can’t lose another generation of children, we must do whatever it takes to teach them how to read.” We need to focus on early literacy and make certain every child can read before they leave elementary school.
4. How can your district do a better job of engaging parents and families?
Our district has had a number of harmful adult conflicts (emotional and physical) in the past few years, and I think the lack of a parent/guardian engagement plan is a large reason why. Part of the responsibility of a school board and school district is to provide spaces that equip our parents/guardians with the knowledge and skills to advocate and make informed decisions on behalf of their children. Due to our lack of success doing this, many families are ill informed and often are unsure how to best support their children.
I believe we need to have monthly Town Hall meetings for all district parents/guardians to join. Issues could include:
Early literacy achievement across schools
Math achievement across sites
Access to Library Sciences across sites
Access to school counselors across elementary and middle school sites
Community partner connections across schools
“Electives” (PE, Music, Art, Science, Gardening, etc.) across sites
Teacher hiring and retention across sites
Principal hiring and retention across sites
Teacher vacancies across sites and across years
Additional question added by candidate: What is your position on charter schools, and what do you think their role in OUSD should be?
I do not support any more charter schools in Oakland – we don’t have enough students for the schools we have. Charter schools have minimal oversight by the Oakland Board of Education but do impact the funding going to traditional schools and I believe that we have the fiduciary responsibility of supporting and rebuilding our traditional Oakland public schools for future generations to come.
Their role historically has been a different option for low-income families of color in east and west Oakland who decided their neighborhood school didn't support their child's needs. In Oakland, white and affluent families have always had that choice, and end up at private or parochial schools. As a white parent privileged to live in a neighborhood with a good school, I can't in good conscience look at another parent exercising their choice and call that a problem UNTIL we ensure every school in those neighborhoods has the curriculum, educators, community partners and programs that they deserve. My goal as a board member is to focus our priorities and investments at the site level, so that in ten years our families will consistently choose the OUSD school in their area.
Scott Davison, Carlsbad
1. Why did you decide to run for the school board? Was there a specific catalyst or school district failure that pushed you to run?
I decided to run for school board in late 2020, after I had spent 6 months advocating to our school district and school board only to realize that they simply weren't interested in listening to parents. After a particularly contentious board meeting where my board representative essentially kept repeating the concerns of the teachers' union and dismissing the pleas of parents and students suffering from school closures, I found out she actually worked for the California Teachers Association and her job was to advise the local unions on how to negotiate against school boards. Despite this clear conflict of interest and violation of the board bylaws, our Board refused to take action against her, and that's when I realized the only option was to run against her in 2022.
2. Assuming you were disappointed by the handling of pandemic measures in schools, what are the other major issues you're seeing right now in your local district and want to address?
The biggest problem with having a school board which mishandled the pandemic is they don't want to admit that school closures were a mistake because they would then have to assume responsibility for the resulting harms. An apology would be nice, but instead we're getting the opposite - they either bury their heads in the sand about declining enrollment or purposely obfuscate data on learning loss. So the biggest issue is being transparent about what's happening in our schools, whether it's mental health, teacher burnout, learning loss or parent disengagement. We can't solve problems if we're still trying to pretend they don't exist.
3. How would you prioritize K-12 funding and where do you think the biggest gaps/oversights in spending occur?The priority in K-12 funding should absolutely be on rapidly identifying and addressing learning loss. While some kids did fine, many did not, and until we identify who they are and work to catch them up, the inequity created by school closures will only get worse. These are also the kids that are mostly likely to drop out or transfer out of the district if their needs aren't being met, so providing them with extra help serves the dual benefit of catching them back up and keeping them in the school district so we don't lose even more funding. Spending to address learning loss also represents the biggest oversight, particularly since my school district is publicly messaging that there was no learning loss and therefore no need to spend money to address it. Internally we know they are aware and are trying to handle it without discussing the extent of the problem or how much money is being spent to address it.
4. How can your district do a better job of engaging parents and families?
This question makes me laugh, which is sad, but that's because not only has our district failed to engage parents and families, they've spent the past two years criticizing, ignoring and essentially doing their best to exclude parents from being involved at school. Anything they do at this point would be an improvement, but I think the best option would be for the Superintendent to figuratively hit the reset button and send a message that parents are welcome back on campus, that we need their help, and that we need them to be involved with their children's education and value their input and opinions. This sounds pretty easy, but I think it's unlikely to occur because we have leadership that does not actually value parent engagement and is at this point more afraid of parents than they are interested in listening to them.